Research Infrastructures in MERIL

Taking into account definitions from the European Commission and the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), MERIL uses the following definition of Research Infrastructures:

A European Research Infrastructure is a facility or (virtual) platform that provides the scientific community with resources and services to conduct top-level research in their respective fields. These research infrastructures can be single-sited or distributed or an e-infrastructure, and can be part of a national or international network of facilities, or of interconnected scientific instrument networks.

The MERIL portal includes categories and types of research infrastructures in all scientific domains. To be eligible for inclusion in the MERIL database, an infrastructure should meet the following criteria:

Offer top quality scientific and technological performance and support recognised as being of European relevance;

Offer access to scientific users from Europe and beyond through a transparent selection and admission process on the basis of scientific merit;

Have stable and effective management.

Research infrastructures included in MERIL have been evaluated on the basis of the commonly agreed definition, and criteria and are considered by the scientific community and policy makers to be relevant to Europe.

Generally, the NDIs for each country update the list of MERIL-eligible research infrastructures for their country. Research infrastructures additionally have the possibility of submitting themselves for MERIL consideration through the self-assessment form available on the MERIL portal. For further information, please consult the MERIL portal.

The MERIL project is supported by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 from March 2016 to February 2020. From January 2013 to February 2016 it was supported by the ESF member organisations. From October 2010 and December 2012 it was supported by the European Commission under Framework Programme 7.